Reviews: Survivor 20: Heroes vs Villains

Ben Vernel takes a look at the most recent season of Survivor. Beware: spoilers ahead.

Wow. What a season. There’s a reason Burnett and co. keep returning to the All-Stars gimmick – it leads to amazing gameplay and some intense competition between people who (think they) know what to expect. Russell grabbed more than his fair share of screentime for the second season in a row, Amanda failed horribly when lying to people’s faces once more, and Parvati carried a giant target on her back for the entire run.

It was sad to see Boston Rob go so early, especially considering the inept and naive way in which Russell (his rival and vanquisher) finished off the season, alienating everyone on the jury and failing to capitalize on any successful strategic gameplay. He really was the story of the season; he found idols, concocted blindsides and insulted people to their face. That third point is the reason he not only lost this season but will lose every final tribal council – he is consistently an ass to those who will eventually decide whether or not he deserves a million dollars. Russell treats Survivor as if it is a game of chess; there are pieces on the board that move in certain, well-defined and restricted ways. There are pawns, rooks, bishops and knights and he is there to move them around in order to win. Survivor is not chess, people are not pawns, and emotion does come into the equation.

Parvati deserved to win, in my opinion. She played hard, she made friends and she was strong in challenges. She balanced sneaky strategy with a good social game, and I feel that she suffered from her association with Russell. Sandra was funny and played pretty hard, but I find it hard to believe that no one on the jury realised that she had been playing both sides (heroes and villains) against each other since the merge. Nevertheless, it was an immensely entertaining season and ranks probably 3rd of all time, behind All-Stars at number two and Fans vs Favourites in the top spot.

Comments

Disagree with Parvati for the win.
I found the stupid look on her face difficult to watch…
which I think is a perfectly good reason to disagree.
I’m pro Team Sandra, i loved that hat-burning little minx.